Archive for January, 2007

On Saturday, a mass of Boiseans, maybe 20,000 or so, marched in the streets of downtown Boise to demonstrate their peak priority – celebrating the Boise State University football team. (The Idaho Statesmansays “We’ve got video of all the excitement.”) A few hours earlier, there was another march, attracting about 500 people, organized by Right to Life of Idaho.

It got little attention. But it generated a ferocious negative review, and not from the left, either: This comes from Dennis Mansfield, whose anti-abortion record in Idaho is quite clear. His post on the rally is a must-read on current Idaho politics.

The Washington Republican Party hasn’t had a really good state issue for a while to go after the state’s ruling Democrats – an issue, that is, that a wide range of people (not jut conservatives) can seize on to and join with. They may have one now, and state Chair Diane Tebelius – internally embattled though she may be – is laying solid groundwork on it.

There is no hotter issue in Seattle right now than the Alaskan Way viaduct limited highway along downtown – whether to destroy it and go to street level (no one seems to like that idea much), rebuilt it as an elevated highway, or dig a tunnel and route the traffic there. There is no happy answer, because the price tag for any option (save the first) is enormous – estimated now (sure to rise later) at about $4.3 billion for a six-lane tunnel or $3.4 billion for a four-lane, or $2.8 billion for a rebuild. The project most essentially is a city of Seattle deal, but since the state would be a massive contributor to it – maybe more than half of the total – the responsibility and leverage associated with it is spread around. As a matter of politics, just about everyone involved in the decision-making in this is a Democrat.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and a majority of the city council favor the tunnel approach; they were staunch six-laners until reaction over the huge tab led to a more recent retrenchment to four. On Friday they decided to place the issue on a March 13 ballot, including also the idea of replacing the elevated road: A voter can vote up or down on one of them, on both, or on neither. (What happens if voters approve or reject both is anyone’s guess.)

An hour south in Olympia (well, two or three during rush), Governor Chris Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp (whose district is in the heart of northern Seattle) have been weighing in. They dislike the tunnel idea – big time – and favor the elevated. Chopp went so far as to call the tunnel plan “dead.” And Gregoire, after saying in December that she favored letting Seattle voters make the decision, in January sounded a note similar to Chopp’s – no tunnel, the state money would go to either a rebuilt of the relevated, or to work on the Highway 520 bridge east of Seattle (which also badly needs repair). At least up to today, when she issued another statement saying that, of course, she’d respect the will of the voters of Seattle.

Voters in Seattle and western Washington generally have some good reason to think that matters viaduct are coming a little unglued. The great good will all these parties, and others, developed a couple of years ago in pulling together a big state transportation funding package (part of which was supposed to deal with the Alaskan Way) appears to be frittering away as voters get the sense that everyone’s fighting and no one is getting things done.

The Northwest has been out of the picture for so long as a national player in the primaries that we’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have a say in the winnowing process – before our major choices are limited to two. Washington thought in 2004 it might be a significant factor in the Democratic primaries (there was no contest on the Republican side then), but it didn’t really turn out that way.

Oregon and Idaho haven’t been players for quite a few cycles now, largely because their primary elections are set in May. (Washington’s main primaries have been in September, which required a breakoff of the presidential activities for early in the year.)

Was not always this way.

Through much of the 20th century, Oregon was a significant stop on Primary Way, periodically a turning point. In 1912 the Oregon primary gave then-insurgent candidate Theodore Roosevelt an important boost with a landslide vote over incumbent President (and Roosevelt protege) William Howard Taft. Oregon was a substantial stomping ground for John Kennedy in 1960 and Richard Nixon in 1968 – the state got an extensive look at both those years, pre-nomination. (The semi-legendary Democratic politician Monroe Sweetland wrote a piece for the Oregon Historical Quarterly in 2000 on “The Underestimated Oregon Presidential Primary of 1960.”) It gave Senator Frank Church an important head of steam (albeit temporary) in 1976. All of which seems fitting, in the state where the primary got its big start.

Maybe some of that history will help the new push to break off the presidential primary in Oregon, and set it for February 5 – the fifth election date in primary season, and early enough that it may matter.

The idea got a blogosphere push last week when two founders of Blue Oregon, Kari Chisholm and Jesse Cornett, floated the idea. It’s now moved to another level, with the chairs of both major parties backing the idea.

The space crunch at the Idaho Statehouse that state legislators talk about, as they discuss the need for two underground floors of legislative space, is real. The public encounters it most specifically in the small committee meeting rooms, which designed for another era and often jam packed with legislators, staff, lobbyists, reporters and others. Arrive on time for an Idaho legislative committee meeting and, even on uncontroversial days, your chances of finding even standing room are not good.

Other forms of legislative space need not be in such precious demand. Go back 20 years and you would see an Idaho Legislature which in large measure did its work on the floor; leadership and committee chairs had offices, but most other members worked at their desks in the chambers, where they had phones and filing cabinets. Most especially, they were accessible to the public that way. Now, once floor sessions are over, most scurry off to out-of-the-way offices, out of view. (More than a few long-time legislature watchers think the push for individual offices and personal assistants will be coming next.) Washington and Oregon may have passed the point in population, interest groups and overall traffic where floor work is practical, but we don’t think Idaho has. More space probably is needed for legislative staff, but not necessarily an inordinate amount.

The overwhelming, bipartisan legislative answer to this is to add two floors to the Statehouse, underground, adding $40 million onto the building renovation price tag of $80.

The issue here seems to have been framed as “to dig or not to dig” – or, whether to expand legislative space or not. Some expansion is clearly needed; that’s not an issue. The question is whether to go underground and create the new $40 million space, or to use two buildings – the old Ada County courthouse and the Borah Post Office building – each located directly across the street from the Statehouse and each almost all empty, both of which the state already owns. One of which will be used for state executive and legislative offices for the next three years, as plans currently stand.

The lines, they do get blurry. A weekend news anchor for KTVB Channel 7 in Boise, Andrea Dearden, also has a second job during the work week, that of a spokesman for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. The relationship is not distant: As anyone who watches local TV news knows, local law enforcement agencies routinely get a lot of air time.

KTVB Manager Doug Armstrong told the Idaho Statesman he has no problem with the mix of jobs.

However, a station website profile of Dearden which (the Statesman reported) listed her as a crime reporter as well as anchor, is now (as of this writing at least) gone from the website.

There are a variety of ethical questions involved here, though we should note that the issue isn’t of long standing, since her hiring at the Sheriff’s Office is recent and she said she will work only a few more weeks for KTVB.

We bring it up mostly for this reason, an explanatory quote from Armstrong to the Statesman: “You can’t confuse reading the news with being a reporter.”

That is a provocative statement. Stop and think for a moment about all the promotion, on both the local and national level, of news anchors. We’re not suggesting Armstrong is wrong. But the question is obvious: If news anchors aren’t reporters, what are they?

As a range of Washington and Oregon communities take a look at their port districts – there’s some nibbling around in Seattle about that – they may want to cast a glance to Astoria, where the local daily is running a strong series of articles about problems at the port district there.

Much of the Astorian is behind a subscriber wall but this piece, the leadoff in the series, was not. It points out, “The Port has been accused of taking unusual risks with public dollars, its executive director, Peter Gearin, is under legal scrutiny for his role in violating a federal dredge permit, Port commissioners have been fingered for profiting from their positions, and several Port employees have left their posts without much explanation.”

If Micron Technology is on your radar screen you have a couple of pieces of information to absorb from this week, both with significant potential reach for Idaho’s largest business and private employer.

One was fairly public (though unreported so far on its own web site): The decision by stockholders to adopt language banning discrimination on basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This was an initiative prompted by the managers of the pension funds of New York City, which are major Micron stockholders, and the proposal was approved by more than 55% of the shares.

Public corporations are not controlled exclusively at their headquarters, and this is certainly an instance of that: Corporate executives had maintained, firmly, that such an explicit policy wasn’t needed because existing corporate policy already covered that ground. Our speculation is that the opposition came from some concern about running afoul of the larger cultural environment in Southwest Idaho where a plurality – but no longer a majority – of the firm’s employees live and work.

The second item makes the matter of external influences even more explicit.

The Boise Idaho Statesman has just done a thorough redesign of its web site, and it marks a considerable improvement in ease of navigation, visibility and loading time (which in recent months has been, in our experience, the worst among Northwest daily newspapers).

It also marks the most visible link to its new owner, the McClatchy newspaper group. Compare the design approach of the Statesman’s front page to that of the (also McClatchy-owned) Tacoma News Tribune.

Bad news for southeast Idahoans needing to head to Boise: The only air connection from Pocatello to Boise seems about to depart. Big Sky Airlines, which is based in Montana, said it has been losing money on the twice-daily Pocatello-Boise flights and wants to end them, in another month. Pocatello officials are trying to get the company to hold on longer, or maybe try once-daily flights.

Aside from a charter service, Pocatello’s airport now is served by two air providers, Skywest Airlines, which has regular service to the Salt Lake City International airport, and Big Sky, with regular daily connector flights linking Pocatello and Boise Regional Airport. That would leave one of Idaho’s main secondary airports with scheduled flights only to . . . Utah.

What’s a little odd in this is that Pocatello has not been tanking economically. It’s actually been expanding, bringing in a batch new new businesses. Just today came an announcement from the Hawaiian firm Hoku Scientific: “Hoku Materials, a division of Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOKU), today announced it plans to build a $220 million polysilicon production plant in Pocatello with a payroll of 200 when the plant initiates operations. The City of Pocatello has reserved 450 acres of vacant land for Hoku’s facilities and future expansion. Subject to financing and other conditions, engineering and construction is planned to begin in the coming months and Hoku expects that the plant will be operational in late 2008. The Hawaii-based company focuses on clean energy technology and plans to produce a highly pure form of silicon, the key material used in most solar power systems.”

So early to be doing this, but worthy as a taking of current temperature and maybe from a lookback perspective later: SurveyUSA’s early polling on presidential matchups in several states, among them Washington and Oregon. (Idaho wasn’t among them.)

Specifically, these are early matchups of Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who is forming an exploratory committee (which ordiarily means, he’s running) with three top Republican candidates: Arizona Senator John McCain, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

None of the major candidates seem to have picked up a lot of public backing so far from major Northwest political figures. There’s been some recent Oregon activity, though, between Senator Gordon Smith’s backing of McCain and this week’s announcement from the Romney campaign that three of the 16 members of his exploratory committee come from Oregon, and one of those is the state Republican chair, Vance Day.

All three Northwest states are reported to have high rates of homelessness. This has resulted in such stories as “Idaho ranks 6th in homelessness,” but you get a better picture when you get into matters of definition.

State

Sheltered

Unsheltd

Total

% pop

Idaho

5,092

332

5,424

0.38%

Oregon

7,775

8,446

16,221

0.45%

Washington

14,450

9,520

23,970

0.38%

The homeless are not a monolith, certainly no more than any other group in our society, likely less than most. The report segments them in a variety of ways, among those “sheltered” as opposed to “unsheltered” – those living essentially or actually out in the open, sleeping on sidewalks or by river banks. Nationally, the report says that 56% are sheltered, 44% unsheltered.

Idaho’s population is somewhat less than half Oregon’s, which is barely over half of Washington’s. All three states are estimated to have comparable numbers of homeless people. But in Idaho, very few – 6.1% – are living unsheltered, while in Oregon a majority are, and in Washington around 40%.

What accounts for that disparity? Climate differences could be part of it; survival would be easier outdoors in rough seasons west of the Cascades than elsewhere. Or are there other factors? Is there something about Portland, for example, architectural maybe, that makes it easier to live outside (plenty of bridges for some overhead shelter, lots of bus stops to sit down, and so on.) The study and recent news articles suggest the numbers of unsheltered homeless are not simply a factor of lack of available emergency shelter (though that may partially be the case). So what else might be done to reduce the numbers?

If you exclude the unsheltered and consider the sheltered homeless, Idaho’s percentage ranked among the states shoots to near the top. Why would that be?

A notable report, for all the new questions it raises, here as elsewhere.

In these days of cold, those of us who can bundle up by the fireplace in cozy homes, and those who can’t . . . Well, we hope for the best.

But in thinking about the homeless and about the panhandlers out there, consider this stunning anecdote – it’s just that, but it does seem telling – from Danny Westneat’s Seattle Times column today.

The number of panhandlers in central Seattle is estimated to have tripled this year, and several attorneys (the one quoted was Peter Friedman), rather than choose between passing out money or simply passing the handlers by, came up with a third option. They set up a fund at a deli called Bakeman’s, and instead of money gave to the panhandlers cards which could be redeemed for a sandwich at the place.

Westneat writes: “Of about 60 cards passed out, not a single one was redeemed for a sandwich.”

Having set himself up for battles in other areas, Idaho Governor Butch Otter took the smoother path in his latest legislative appointment (which now brings the legislature up to full membership).

He has namedSteve Kren, a Nampa electrical contractor and son of a like-named Nampa City Council member, to the House seat vacated by just-departed Bill Deal. You can see more on the implications of the choice at this earlier post.

We didn’t take more than ordinary notice last month when John McKay, the U.S. attorney for the Western Washington federal justice district, announced his resignation from that job (not with the plan of landing anywhere else in particular).

It was a little unusual in that McKay resigned effective the end of this month. And it coincided with a turndown on his application to become a federal judge. And the Seattle Times article on the departure only hinted that McKay’s resignation wasn’t his own idea, and left extremely vague what was: Nowhere in the story does McKay actually say why he’s leaving. There’s no new job on the horizon (though he’s doubtless plenty employable), and he doesn’t even cite the usual “family reasons.” The implication is that he is leaving because he was told to.

With that in mind, consider what is coinciding with McKay’s departure: The abrupt departure as probable ousters, within the last month, of seven or eight U.S. attorneys (at a minimum) around the nation.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein pulled some of this together in a speech today on the Senate floor. (She cited a U.S. attorney in Washington state, though not by name.) Her web site notes that in her comments there she “expressed concern about the fact that a number of U.S. Attorneys have been asked by the Department of Justice to resign their positions prior to the end of their terms and without cause. In a little noticed provision included in the Patriot Act reauthorization last year, the Administration’s authority to appoint interim U.S. Attorneys was greatly expanded. The law was changed so that if a vacancy arises the Attorney General may appoint a replacement for an indefinite period of time – thus completely avoiding the Senate confirmation process.”

During his tenure, McKay picked up positive marks for doing a professional job as U.S. attorney. One wonders what is considered, by the Department of Justice in the other Washington, preferable. But we may soon learn.

Was a quick snow, predicted only on the fringes and seemingly catching a lot of people west of the Cascades by surprise. Certainly it snagged the roads pretty well.

Snoqualmie Pass this morning

The Cascade Mountain passes seem solidly blocked; the judge from the roadcams, Snoqualmie is rough, and Stevens is much worse. Considering the cold of the last few days, the Gorge area has to be lousy with ice. Even the flat roads in the valleys, though, are slick because of the recent cold that hasn’t allowed for a quick melt. It’s not the kind of storm, happily, that will shut off a lot of power (the region has had quite enough of that). But it may keep a lot of people home.

For those east of the Cascades: It’s coming your way. Possibly in diluted form, but still.

Most governors highlight their initiatives and approaches to governing in their state of the state or sometimes inaugural speeches. Idaho’s Butch Otter appears not to be one of those governors; his changes are showing up later, in the fine print of the budget books. Not that these moves are necessarily bad or wrong; just that Otter has seemed determined not to shine a light on them. They poked out of the ground on their own – in the first instance, literally so – and in the process seem to show off Otter’s more libertarian roots, and maybe his approach to governance.

Three major examples have emerged just in the last few days. They will, almost certainly, not be the last.

The first was Otter’s action on the Statehouse construction. He made clear enough in his campaign last year that while he supported Statehouse renovation, he did not support digging two new underground levels under the building, at substantial cost. (We have expressed concern about that, too.) After his election, though, he went silent on the issue, a major and highly visible subject where he works. It went unmentioned in his inaugural speech, and was so strikingly absent from his state of the state that reporters asked him about it afterward.

Then last week, Otter issued a stop-work order – construction work on the Statehouse would stop, including work preparatory to the big dig. That, his people explained, was partly to buy time to negotiate with legislators on the subject. Apparently it also had to do with his budget proposal, which explicitly did not include money for underground office construction. This head-to-head with the legislature is just beginning to play out.

"Essentially, I write in the margins of motherhood—and everything else—then I work these notes into a monthly column about what it’s like raising my two young boys. Are my columns funny? Are they serious? They don’t fit into any one box neatly. ... I’ve won awards for “best humorous column” though I actually write about subjects as light as bulimia, bullying, birthing plans and breastfeeding. But also bon-bons. And barf, and birthdays."
Raising the Hardy Boys: They Said There Would Be Bon-Bons. by Nathalie Hardy; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 238 pages. Softcover. $15.95.Raising the Hardy Boys page.

"Not a day passes that I don’t think about Vietnam. Sometimes its an aroma or just hearing the Vietnamese accent of a store clerk that triggers a memory. Unlike all too many soldiers, I never had to fire a weapon in anger. Return to civilian life was easy, but even after all these years away from the Army and Vietnam I find the experience – and knowledge – continue to shape my life daily."

Many critics said it could not be done - and it often almost came undone. Now the Snake River Basin Adjudication is done, and that improbable story is told here by three dozen of the people most centrally involved with it - judges, attorneys, legislators, engineers, water managers, water users and others in the room when the decisions were made.Through the Waters: An Oral History of the Snake River Basin Adjudication. edited by the Idaho State Bar Water Law Section and Randy Stapilus; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 300 pages. Softcover. $16.95.See the THROUGH THE WATERS page.

Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh died on July 20, 2014; he was widely praised for steady leadership in difficult years. Writer Scott Jorgensen talks with Atiyeh and traces his background, and what others said about him. Conversations with Atiyeh. by W. Scott Jorgensen; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 140 pages. Softcover. $14.95.The CONVERSATIONS WITH ATIYEH page.

"Salvation through public service and the purging of awful sights seen during 1500 Vietnam War helicopter rescue missions before an untimely death, as told by a devoted brother, leaves a reader pondering life's unfairness. A haunting read." Chris Carlson, Medimont Reflections. ". . . a vivid picture of his brother Jerry’s time as a Medivac pilot in Vietnam and contrasts it with the reality of the political system . . . through the lens of a blue-collar, working man made good." Mike Kennedy.One Flaming Hour: A memoir of Jerry Blackbird. by Mike Blackbird; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 220 pages. Softcover. $15.95.See the ONE FLAMING HOUR page.

Back in Print!Frank Church was one of the leading figures in Idaho history, and one of the most important U.S. senators of the last century. From wilderness to Vietnam to investigating the CIA, Church led on a host of difficult issues. This, the one serious biography of Church originally published in 1994, is back in print by Ridenbaugh Press.Fighting the Odds: The Life of Senator Frank Church. LeRoy Ashby and Rod Gramer; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 800 pages. Softcover. $24.95.See the FIGHTING THE ODDS page.

JOURNEY WEST

by Stephen HartgenThe personal story of the well-known editor, publisher and state legislator's travel west from Maine to Idaho. A well-written account for anyone interested in Idaho, journalism or politics.JOURNEY WEST: A memoir of journalism and politics, by Stephen Hartgen; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. $15.95, here or at Amazon.com (softcover)

NEW EDITIONSis the story of the Northwest's 226 general-circulation newspapers and where your newspaper is headed.New Editions: The Northwest's Newspapers as They Were, Are and Will Be. Steve Bagwell and Randy Stapilus; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. 324 pages. Softcover. (e-book ahead). $16.95.See the NEW EDITIONS page.

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THE OREGON POLITICALFIELD GUIDE 2014

The Field Guide is the reference for the year on Oregon politics - the people, the districts, the votes, the issues. Compiled by a long-time Northwest political writer and a Salem Statesman-Journal political reporter.OREGON POLITICAL FIELD GUIDE 2014, by Randy Stapilus and Hannah Hoffman; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. $15.95, available right here or through Amazon.com (softcover)

THE IDAHO POLITICALFIELD GUIDE 2014

by Randy Stapilus and Marty Trillhaase is the reference for the year on Idaho Politics - the people, the districts, the votes, the issues. Written by two of Idaho's most veteran politcal observers.IDAHO POLITICAL FIELD GUIDE 2014, by Randy Stapilus and Marty Trillhaase; Ridenbaugh Press, Carlton, Oregon. $15.95, available right here or through Amazon.com (softcover)

WITHOUT COMPROMISE is the story of the Idaho State Police, from barely-functioning motor vehicles and hardly-there roads to computer and biotechnology. Kelly Kast has spent years researching the history and interviewing scores of current and former state police, and has emerged with a detailed and engrossing story of Idaho. WITHOUT COMPROMISE page.

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The Old West saw few murder trials more spectacular or misunderstood than of "Diamondfield" Jack Davis. After years of brushes with the noose, Davis was pardoned - though many continued to believe him guilty. Max Black has spent years researching the Diamondfield saga and found startling new evidence never before uncovered - including the weapon and one of the bullets involved in the crime, and important documents - and now sets out the definitive story. Here too is Black's story - how he found key elements, presumed lost forever, of a fabulous Old West story. See the DIAMONDFIELD page for more.

Chris Carlson's Medimont Reflections is a followup on his biography of former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus. This one expands the view, bringing in Carlson's take on Idaho politics, the Northwest energy planning council, environmental issues and much more. The Idaho Statesman: "a pull-back-the-curtain account of his 40 years as a player in public life in Idaho." Available here: $15.95 plus shipping.See the Medimont Reflections page

NOW IN KINDLE
&nbspIdaho 100, about the 100 most influential people ever in Idaho, by Randy Stapilus and Martin Peterson is now available. This is the book about to become the talk of the state - who really made Idaho the way it is? NOW AN E-BOOK AVAILABLE THROUGH KINDLE for just $2.99. Or, only $15.95 plus shipping.
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WA blogs

Water rights and water wars: They’re not just a western movie any more. The Water Gates reviews water supplies, uses and rights to use water in all 50 states.242 pages, available from Ridenbaugh Press, $15.95

At a time when Americans were only exploring what are now western states, William Craig tried to broker peace between native Nez Perces and newcomers from the East. 15 years in the making, this is one of the most dramatic stories of early Northwest history. 242 pages, available from Ridenbaugh Press, $15.95

The Snake River Basin Adjudication is one of the largest water adjudications the United States has ever seen, and it may be the most successful. Here's how it happened, from the pages of the SRBA Digest, for 16 years the independent source.